Monday started off with a bang as we were in the pool by 5:30AM swimming, swimming, swimming and more swimming.  Good thing we had a day off yesterday so my arms were a little more rested.  Coach Paul busted me for taking it too easy when on the last interval he told me “My watch is on you Heather!” and I swam about 6sec faster for my 100 than I had been.  Seriously though, it was a new PR for me and I was happy to be able to swim that fast.  Later in the day we had one of my favorite workouts, hard bike intervals.  We found this great road that was a 5minute loop with only a few turns and no cars.  We cruised around the loop with Paul riding next to us on the scooter (I really wish I had my camera! It was hilarious!) giving us tips and yelling at us to ride faster.  After the ride we went over to Paul’s for a twilight BBQ.  There is nothing bett ...

After a long week of super hard training it was time to have a little fun.  Bright and early Saturday we all piled into Coach Paul’s van and headed down to Redcliffe, a 90min drive south, for a local Splash and Dash.  The race was a 600m swim, 3K run, 600m swim, and 3K run.  Short and sweet.  Thanks to the cyclone which was inching its’ way toward the Australian coast, the protected bay where the swim was held was super choppy.  Regardless, the race was a fun way to get the body back into race mode.  My legs felt surprisingly good on the run despite the hard week of training.  The toughest part of the race was by far the second swim.  After the first run I dove back into the water and just sort of lay there thinking, “do I really have to start swimming again?”  Anyway, it was fun to race a bit and to cheer everyone else on.& ...

Life here in Noosa has settled into a nice little routine.  Up early for training session #1, shower, breakfast, calls to home, nap, snack, training session #2, shower, lunch, errands, training session #3, shower, dinner, stretching, reading, bed.  I miss my husband and family enough that I guess I will return to the States but it IS really nice down here.  The sun has even decided to stay out for the past few days and we made it through a whole 4hour bike ride with no rain!  Time has a way of just passing by and the days have all sort of just blended together.  I’ve been heard on more than occasion saying “remember on that ride we did yesterday…” only to be informed that the ride was 3 days ago.  Not sure if that is a good thing or bad thing… My body is definitely feeling the effects of all this volume and intensity of training and fatigue i ...

I was welcomed to the Noosa, right in the heart of the Sunshine coast, by what I’m calling a monsoon.  Apparently it’s been raining here for weeks almost non-stop.  It’s not showing any signs of stopping in the near future either.  There are actually 2 cyclones heading our way.  Regardless, it is still absolutely beautiful here and warm.  The second day I arrived here, which was the first day I was functioning.  The first day I was in a total fog due all the traveling.  I did manage to stay awake the whole first day which definitely got my on “Noosa time” quickly.  And actually the second day managed to be sunny almost the whole day.  We got a long run in and a surf swim in the ocean without much rain.  The next day we weren’t so luckily.  First was a group ride in which we proceeded to ham ...

Finally March is here and I am off to Australia.  I have no excuse to not update my blog now since I am going to be spending lots of time in airports and on planes.  Hopefully I will be able to catch up on some sleep too.  It’s going to be a long trip but totally worth it.  I was super excited when I found out Lifesport was holding one of their training camps in Australia.  I’ve always wanted to go Australia and Noosa sounded SO nice.  I’m going to be getting my butt kicked everyday and I’m a little worried about being able to keep up with all the super fast girls but regardless, I’ll get lots of good training in.  Plus, it will be nice not to have to rush off to work in between all my workouts.  Anyway, I’m super excited and hope to have some time to take a few pictures and post them. Life’s been pretty bo ...

What a crazy winter!  We got hit with one of the biggest snow storms in Philadelphia history on Saturday and are awaiting another big one which is supposed to cover us in snow tomorrow.  Schools are all cancelled, flights are cancelled, work (for some people) is already cancelled. It’s mayhem.  I think I jinxed things because I told my coach in November that we have really mild winters in Philly and hardly ever get snow.  Guess Mother Nature showed me!  And to top it off, it looks like I will have to hit the treadmill tomorrow for my tempo run.  I hate hate hate running on the treadmill and have managed to avoid it for many years.  Unfortunately though, I have a hard, fast workout to do tomorrow and I think the roads will be in no condition for fast miles.  I’m sure I’ll get it in but it is not going to be fun…  I did try to s ...

The celebrations have begun.  Well, actually they are almost over now.  I started this post much earlier in the week and it’s been taking me quite a while to get thru it.  The celebrations have been tamed down this year since I’m going to be spending way too much time working.  Luckily I like my job but it still isn’t fun working from 6AM-8PM on your birthday!  My husband and I kicked off the celebrations with some champagne and a very yummy dinner which he made (and cleaned up after too!).  I had to rally a bit to make it thru the evening since I was so tired but it was worth it.  And fortunately, my birthday celebrations last all week.  The following evening was dinner with friends at one of my favorite Italian restaurants.  The restaurant is about an hour from our house and so, as a treat, my husband and I stayed over in a hotel across the street.  I loved every minute of it beca ...

Last week was a whirlwind of fun.  It started with a trip to NYC to see my BFF.  She was only in town for Wednesday night and Thursday morning but we made the most of the short time by staying up late Wednesday and getting up early Thursday.  It was fun to catch up but even more fun to reminisce about the past.  As with good friends, even though we hadn’t seen each other in 2 years, it felt like no time had passed.  After she left for the train station, my husband spent the rest of the day wandering around NYC.  We had lunch in Little Italy, explored the Frick Museum and took a nap on the rocks in Central

I can’t believe it’s been a whole month since my last blog.  The last few weeks seem like a blur even though not much has been going on.  After a fun filled weekend in Augusta with my family and friends, although unfortunately not a fun filled race, I came home and made a last minute decision to do a small local sprint triathlon with some friends.  It did take quite a bit of persuasion from them since I was pretty burnt out both mentally and physically (as was my husband who adamantly refused to go to another triathlon in the year 2009).  I however, couldn’t resist a fun race with friends.  Ever since I turned pro the racing has been so much more serious.  Don’t get me wrong, I love every minute of it, but I don’t get as many opportunities to just jump in a race without much training, to be surrounded by friends, and to not really be concerned ...